Fantasy Football 2024: Must-Start Fantasy Picks This Sunday - Week 8
Published: Oct 25, 2024
With ZERO teams on bye for Week 8, we have a full slate of games to sort through. Lucky for us, Ian Hartitz of Mathew Berry's Fantasy Life is here to sort through it all with our host Andrew Cooper!
They'll hit all of the top plays and matchups for this week then put the best ones into an FFPC Weekly Challenge Contest to see if they can win big! If you want all of Coop's rankings for this week, grab yourself a 7-day free trial of the Fantasy Alarm All Pro membership now!
Player News
Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers is working out with six Steelers pass-catchers in Malibu prior to training camp.
Rodgers did not sign with the Steelers until late in the offseason, leaving him little time to build chemistry with the team’s receivers through offseason workouts. However, Rodgers posted a photo on social media with WRs DK Metcalf, Calvin Austin, Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller, and Ben Skowronek and TE Pat Freiermuth. He had invited offensive skill players to work out with him and these six have taken up the offer thus far. Metcalf and Freiermuth are likely to be two of the top options in the Steelers offense, with Austin and Wilson mixing in behind. Newly acquired Jonnu Smith is not there, though he just joined the team this week. Rodgers is headed for a final season in Pittsburgh and is looking to build further rapport with his pass-catchers for one last hurrah.
The Athletic’s Chad Graff believes Patriots WR Efton Chism will “enter camp with a decent shot at making the team.”
A UDFA from Eastern Washington, Chism has been singled out by Drake Maye and coach Mike Vrabel for his impressive showing during the early offseason sessions. Chism put up videogame numbers in the Eagles’ high-flying passing attack last year, totaling 120 catches for 1,311 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2024. Despite the gaudy counting stats, Chism’s 5'10/195 build combined with a dreadful 4.71 Forty led to all 32 teams passing on him during the draft. He will likely be parked behind Demario Douglas as a rookie, but Chism could be worth a look in deep dynasty leagues if he makes noise during training camp.
ESPN’s Jamison Hensley believes Ravens WR Devontez Walker “was Baltimore’s most consistent wide receiver during spring practices.”
Hensley called the second-year wideout “the front-runner to be Baltimore’s No. 4 wide receiver” job. It’s not much, but that would be a drastic improvement over the role Walker played as a rookie. He appeared in nine games and caught one pass, a 21-yard score in Week 15. A fourth-round pick in 2024, Walker was drafted as a developmental vertical threat and simply wasn’t ready to take on a meaningful role as a rookie. Coaches and reporters have talked him up this offseason, allowing dynasty managers to leave the light on for him in 2025.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said rookie RB Bhayshul Tuten needs to improve in pass protection.
It’s hardly surprising to hear a head coach urge a rookie back to get better as a blocker. Pass protection is usually a roadblock to consistent snaps for rookie runners. “From protection systems in college to the pros, that’s usually where you see some of the tempo slow down for them – playing slower, thinking more – is when pass-pro starts to kind of bog the mind,” Coen said. “I think [Tuten] has done a solid job. I know he needs a lot more work, which all those guys do.” The 104th selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, Tuten racked up 1,159 yards and 15 touchdowns on 183 attempts in his final collegiate season at Virginia Tech. He also functioned as a kicker return, a role he could experiment with in Jacksonville this summer. PFF graded Tuten in 2024 as the nation’s 98th best blocking back out of 148 qualifying backs. He’ll need to improve in that area if he’s going to seize the RB1 role in the Jaguars backfield in 2025.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports TE Darren Waller told the Giants he “wanted to play again specifically only for Miami.”
Waller, 32, came out of retirement Tuesday and was immediately traded to the Dolphins in exchange for draft-pick compensation. Waller joins one of the NFL’s thinnest tight end depth charts, alongside Pharaoh Brown, Jalin Conyers, and Julian Hill. None of those players will threaten Waller’s role as the team’s primary pass-catching tight end. A seam-stretcher for most of his NFL career, Waller will bring something very different to the Miami offense than what they had with YAC machine Jonnu Smith. Waller, who had 52 grabs on 70 targets for the Giants in 2023, should be the No. 3 target behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
WKBW reports Bills CB Maxwell Hairston is being sued for sexual assault.
The lawsuit against Hairston claims he assaulted a woman at the University of Kentucky in 2021 — an incident that was reported to authorities before the woman transferred out of the university. Buffalo selected Hairston with the 30th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Bills did not comment on the lawsuit. When asked about allegations of Hairston’s involvement in a campus sexual assault, Bills general manager Brandon Beans said the “organization felt the matter was thoroughly investigated and felt there was no truth behind the allegations,” according to WKBW. Beans said of the sexual assault allegations against Hairston: “There doesn’t seem to be anything there.” Hairston is iffy for Bills training camp with a hamstring issue.